VACMA is Open: Funding for Artists & Makers

Applications are now open for VACMA (Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards), offering bursaries of £500 and £1,000 to help visual artists and craft makers across Scotland develop their creative practice!

"I am delighted to announce this year's VACMA. As a member-guided SCIO, VACMA and other opportunities help inform us of the ongoing needs of visual artists and craft makers within the region, which, in turn, supports ongoing development and sustainability.

As ever, CHARTS has noted the ever-increasing demand for financial support to members, and VACMA provides an invaluable opportunity for rural artists wishing to develop and strengthen their practice. VACMA has supported a variety of work, with recipients going on to undertake not only Argyll-based work but also several international residencies and research projects, receive Creative Scotland Open Fund grants, explore new routes to market, achieve solo exhibitions, and develop new methodologies." - Culture, Heritage & Arts Assembly, Argyll & Isles (CHARTS), Executive Director, Kathleen O'Neill

Funding can support:

• Training, mentoring and skills development

• Research and developing new ideas

• Sustainable practices and materials

• Residencies

• Essential equipment

• Creating new work

Find out what previous awardees have achieved and get inspired to develop your own application.

Previous VACMA-funded projects demonstrate the breadth of what the bursary
can make possible, including:

Argyll-based artist Bobbi Cameron was a recipient of VACMA in February 2025 to support attendance at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture’s intensive nine-week summer residency programme in Maine, USA. 

Orkney-based artist, Sheena Graham George, who used VACMA funding to undertake specialist research and travel, broadening her practice and leading to new exhibition and publication opportunities.

Jeweller and designer Marion Miller, whose funding helped her to access specialist one-to-one jewellery training, enabling her to develop a new collection and exhibit her work using the technique.

Deadline 2 February 2027

Image: Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Credit Bobbi Cameron